title: Spontaneous movements during sleep in children: temporal organization and changes with age.
abstract: Developmental changes in the temporal organization of spontaneous movements during sleep was studied in children between 9 months and 11 years of age. Subjects were monitored in the home environment for the entire sleep period using actigraphy and videography. Rhythmicity in sleep-related spontaneous movements was examined using FFT and chi-square periodogram time series analyses. A dominant periodicity of 60-120 minutes was identified which was found to progressively lengthen with age. A microanalysis of the temporal structure of movements revealed a developmental decline in bout duration, but a paradoxical increase in bout frequency. These results show that motor activity becomes less robust and more fragmented as development progresses while retaining underlying rhythmic integrity, and argue for the dynamic influence of CNS maturation on the organization and expression of sleep-related spontaneous movements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Maine, Orono 04469-5742, USA.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mitchell
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D010507:Periodicity; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D013996:Time and Motion Studies; D014743:Videotape Recording